*Official* Tour Matches

[Ruckus]

Are you basing this on 15 overs of a warm-up game? Please...

Partly? Are you saying Swann isn't trying to bowl well and get mediocre batsmen out?

 

[Jarquis]

He's saying its not unlikely for bowlers to have a bad game, he's bowled 15 overs for 50 odd. It's not like he's getting absolutely belted out of the attack and you're forgetting that he's had a thumb injury recently. On his bowling hand I think.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Happy enough,opening day of a tour and done fine so far.Yes Swann hasn't been at his best but he has the 2nd innings and another game or so to get into his groove.Broad is going to be a big hit this series i reckon,far more of a danger than Anderson anyway.

Should be looking to bowl them out for less than 250 which is a good effort,then need to get a good day and a bit in the middle batting.

 

[Ruckus]

He's saying its not unlikely for bowlers to have a bad game, he's bowled 15 overs for 50 odd. It's not like he's getting absolutely belted out of the attack and you're forgetting that he's had a thumb injury recently. On his bowling hand I think.

Oh yeh I had forgotten about the 'thumb injury', but if he is being bowled just as much as anyone else then I assume it is not causing him problems. But anyway he has no wickets plus the worst economy, and considering the dire circumstances WA were/are in, I would say then he is getting punished.

But as you said, you can have a bad game. However, I think Swann will have a poor tour for more than just this tour game. His reputation has been overhyped in recent times because of exceptional performances against the weak batting of Pakistan and Bangladesh. He will be bowling against good batsmen on pitches which are not optimal for spin. Put two and two together. Swann is probably the spin bowler in the world at the moment, but he still isn't THAT good.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

But as you said, you can have a bad game. However, I think Swann will have a poor tour for more than just this tour game. His reputation has been overhyped in recent times because of exceptional performances against the weak batting of Pakistan and Bangladesh. He will be bowling against good batsmen on pitches which are not optimal for spin. Put two and two together. Swann is probably the spin bowler in the world at the moment, but he still isn't THAT good.

And Bollinger hasn't been hyped up by the Aussies despite only doing well against Pakistan,WI and NZ?

He is the one who will be found out.

 

[Ruckus]

And Bollinger hasn't been hyped up by the Aussies despite only doing well against Pakistan,WI and NZ?

He is the one who will be found out.

No because Australian conditions suit Bollinger's bowling the most - he thrives when there is good bounce. Plus he was successful in India as well (avg. 16.20).

 

[Spark]

And Bollinger hasn't been hyped up by the Aussies despite only doing well against Pakistan,WI and NZ?

He is the one who will be found out.

Nah, he loves bounce. Even more than Johnson. His entire bowling philosophy is short of a length, get good bounce.

 

[Woodster]

Oh yeh I had forgotten about the 'thumb injury', but if he is being bowled just as much as anyone else then I assume it is not causing him problems. But anyway he has no wickets plus the worst economy, and considering the dire circumstances WA were/are in, I would say then he is getting punished.

But as you said, you can have a bad game. However, I think Swann will have a poor tour for more than just this tour game. His reputation has been overhyped in recent times because of exceptional performances against the weak batting of Pakistan and Bangladesh. He will be bowling against good batsmen on pitches which are not optimal for spin. Put two and two together. Swann is probably the spin bowler in the world at the moment, but he still isn't THAT good.

Unfortunately Swann cannot bowl exceptionally well in every innings he bowls in, but it will not matter if he takes 1-100 in this innings, it will do nothing to affect his natural self-confidence. Pretty sure the thumb is fine. It's not that he won't be trying to bowl well, but there are times when players don't reach their optimum performance levels in such low key games than the standard they can maintain in Test matches. Not saying this is the case for Swann today, he may just not have bowled too well, but it does happen.

To suggest he is overhyped is naturally your own observation, however, I wonder how much of him you have seen to draw you to that conclusion. Swann, as you say, is currently the best spin bowler in the world, who gives the ball a big rip and gets some appreciable drift, and is a clever bowler too. I'm not saying he's going to take 30 wickets in the series, but he will be a constant threat to the Aussie batsmen.

 

[Ruckus]

Unfortunately Swann cannot bowl exceptionally well in every innings he bowls in, but it will not matter if he takes 1-100 in this innings, it will do nothing to affect his natural self-confidence. Pretty sure the thumb is fine. It's not that he won't be trying to bowl well, but there are times when players don't reach their optimum performance levels in such low key games than the standard they can maintain in Test matches. Not saying this is the case for Swann today, he may just not have bowled too well, but it does happen.

To suggest he is overhyped is naturally your own observation, however, I wonder how much of him you have seen to draw you to that conclusion. Swann, as you say, is currently the best spin bowler in the world, who gives the ball a big rip and gets some appreciable drift, and is a clever bowler too. I'm not saying he's going to take 30 wickets in the series, but he will be a constant threat to the Aussie batsmen.

I've seen plenty of Swann. The fact that he is probably the best spin bowler in the world though should not be taken on face value. There is a distinct lack of good spinners at the moment. The best evidence I think there is for Swann not being as great as some people make out, is the fact that in the last Ashes series Hauritz was practically on par with him. And Hauritz, as we all know now, is not an exceptional spin bowler.

 

[social]

Just saw a few highlights on Sky

Marcus North slashed a widish short ball to about fourth slip

Pretty poor shot to an innocuous delivery from Broad so the pattern continues from last series

On Swann, it's been shown ad infinitum that finger spinners struggle in Oz and I dont see how he'll be any different apart from late Adelaide, maybe Sydney and brain implosions from the Aussies so today isnt that unexpected really

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Swann has improved since then though that is the point we are making.He is a different animal now to the one who was overawed in the ashes in 09.He still helped win a couple of matches in that series though which is more than Hauritz did when the chips were down.I seem to remember at Cardiff Hauritz bottled it bigtime on the last day.

Social,you say Swann will only be a danger at Adelaide or Sydney.That'll do,he wins us those 2 matches and we should at least retain the urn.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Interesting listening to the 2 Perth guys talking about Ramprakash and pondering whether he was harshly treated by England.

The two biggest letdowns in English cricket since i have been watching are Ramprakash and Chris Lewis,both immensely talented but neither had it mentally to perform at the highest level.

 

[Woodster]

I've seen plenty of Swann. The fact that he is probably the best spin bowler in the world though should not be taken on face value. There is a distinct lack of good spinners at the moment. The best evidence I think there is for Swann not being as great as some people make out, is the fact that in the last Ashes series Hauritz was practically on par with him. And Hauritz, as we all know now, is not an exceptional spin bowler.

I don't think Hauritz is the worst to be fair, and there wasn't too much between them in the last Ashes, but I think it's widely recognised there is quite a gulf in class between the two. Swann was excellent in South Africa, the 2nd best team in the world, on pitches you would expect to favour seam bowling rather than spin. The extra bounce of the Aussie tracks will also help Swann.

There is a lack of top spinners around, but we have been spoiled in recent times with Warne, Murali, Saqlain, Mushtaq, Harbhajan, Kumble, etc. There's nothing Swann can do about there not being great competition around, but he wouldn't be out of place sharing a ground with those players.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

So 242-8 dec then

A tricky few overs tonight for the openers but a good workout for the bowlers today.

 

[treamcast34]

WA declared 8/242, and Swann took his first wicket late. Pretty poor figures all round though, Broad aside.

And yes, Swann is (comfortably) the best spinner in the world. No question about that. I think he'll go okay down under, and hey, should he not, we can go away comfortable in knowing that far better offies than him have traveled there and been smashed. It's not easy to get it done down there.

 

[Woodster]

Cook's gone early in the reply. Got cramped with a short ball, and it somehow rolled back onto his stumps by the look of it. Not ideal start to the tour for Cooky boy. And a nightwatchman's come in, Jimmy A.

 

[GIMH]

Cook out early? Who would have thought?

 

[Son Of Coco]

And Bollinger hasn't been hyped up by the Aussies despite only doing well against Pakistan,WI and NZ?

He is the one who will be found out.

There'll be more than one disappointment I'd say. More than likely not all from the one side.

 

[Kylez]

And Bollinger hasn't been hyped up by the Aussies despite only doing well against Pakistan,WI and NZ?

He is the one who will be found out.

Lol, couldn't disagree with this post more.

 

[TT Boy]

The first of what should be many failures for Cook.